whats first? agreement in principle or mortgage offer accepted?

Ok; do yourself a favor and contact an IFA (unbiased.co.uk) who will be able to check the very best deals for you, get you an AIP and AFTER the AIP you can proceed to submit a full mortgage application.

Step One is to find a good deal. It's going to be tricky unless you have 40% purchase price to put down. Lenders are offering 90% Loan to Value's but they are rare and expensive to service. 85% is more realistic.

Step Two is to get your AIP. Your adviser will at this point enter your personal details into (usually) an online form of the lender's institution. You will be credit checked (usually) at the point of offering the AIP.

Step Three is that once you have your AIP you can proceed to complete a full application. Much more detail will be needed here such as your address history, and further information about your job history. Usually you will have needed to be working for a full three years - or at least have three years of employment history.

Step Four is that you will instruct (by paying a fee usually) a valuer to go out an value the property you are intending on buying. This is NOT the same as an estate agent. This valuer will be employed by the mortgage company you have selected. The reason they do this is to take a look at the house to see if it's good enough to lend money on. After all, if you were buying a card board box for £100,000 and you got into financial difficulty, they couldn't sell it and get the £100,000 you owed on it!

Step Five is your Mortgage Offer. This comes a few weeks after the valuer has taken a look at the house. Once you get this, a copy should be forwarded on to your solicitor so that they can take care of arrangements at their end.

Step Six is agreeing a completion date and to exchange contracts. Here is where you'll need your deposit of 15%. Usually solicitors will have their fees paid up front at this point too. Expect fees of around £1000 for a purchase only. This includes all the searches that the solicitors will need to complete for you.

Hope this has helped. I'm an IFA so I know how straightforward the process is, but you do need to seek advice. Please don't just go into the bank - you'll have to deal with all the enquiries yourself and it's just not worth it. An IFA (Independent Financial Adviser) will do all this for you - and make sure you find one that won't charge you a high fee. You should be looking for them to get their commission from the lender, plus a nominal fee of a couple of hundred pounds maybe. We don't charge any fees other than the commission from the lender, but it depends what area you're in.

Usually, the first thing you have to do is find a lending institution (bank) that will pre-qualify you for a loan for a certain amount. Then you make the offer on the house.